72 



WOOD NOTES WILD. 



times vents his high spirits in ingenious variations indic- 

 ative of superior possibilities. Years ago I heard, from 

 a large, tall elm standing in an open field, a strain the 

 beauty of which so struck me that it is often wafted 

 through my mind to this day. It was the oriole's voice, 

 but could it be his song ? — 



# 



i 



^* 



^^ 



It proved to be, and it became with me a favorite argu- 

 ment for the old form of the minor scale — the seventh 

 sharp ascending, natural descending. 



But a still greater deviation from the usual vocal de- 

 livery of orioles was noticed in Dorset, Vermont, on the 

 22d of May, 1884, the new song continuing through the 

 season. A remarkable feature of the performance was 

 the distinct utterance of words as plainly formed as the 

 whippoorwill's name when he " tells " it " to all the hills." 



Cur - ly, cur - ly, Hey ! Chick - er - way, chick - er - way, 



kah, kue. 



Hey ! Chick - er - way, chick - er - way, chew. 



While listening to this song I could not help thinking 

 that the bird had been trained. He invariably attacked 

 the forte " Hey ! " in the climax, as if he had a full 



